Page 24 of I Saw Krampus Kissing Ms Claus

I swat away his hands. “Come with me. We’re dealing with this now.”

“Whatever you say Saint Nik.” He grins and loyally trails after me.

* * *

“I know who took it.”I say storming into my brother’s office.

“Good morning Nikki.” Santa looks up from his desk with a bemused expression on his face. “Who took what?”

“The Christmas Cheer.”

“I thought we were borrowing that from Krampus?” He nods to Krampus behind me. “Vikram, good to see you again.”

“Can it, Santa!” I say. “You’ve been playing dumb for days now.”

“Have I?” My brother’s eyes flick from me to Krampus and back again. “I like your robe Nikki. Is that new?”

Krampus leans against the door looking pleased with himself, his tail flicks gently against my leg. I consider jerking it.

“I know who took it because there’s only one person who could have.”

“There is?” Santa asks.

“There’s only one person with the means, the motive, and the opportunity to steal all that Christmas Cheer.”

“Who is that?” Santa turns to Krampus for a clue.

The demon shrugs.

“There are only three people with keys to that silo. One of them is a terrified overworked elf who I had to put on forced sabbatical, we’re going to hire a few more employees for the inventory warehouse by the way. The other two people are in this room.”

Santa’s smile is unwavering the entire time I talk. His rosy cheeks and gentle grin are perfectly in place.

“And I know that I didn’t take it.” I say leaning forwardacross Santa’s desk.

“But… Santa?” Krampus stands up straight, his cool demeanor finally broken. “How could it be? There isn’t a fiber of guilt in him.”

“No, Santa doesn’t feel any guilt because he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. He hasn’t ruined Christmas. He’s just trying to drive his sister insane, apparently. My only question is what in the Candy Cane Lane were you thinking?”

“Why would I feel guilty?” My brother asks. “All I did was help the two people I love the most in this world.”

“All you’ve done is drive me insane trying to solve your little prank, and force Krampus and I to run roughshod through Christmas Town for the past several days.”

“Who’s robe are you wearing?” Santa asks.

“No one’s, nothing, it’s mine.” I fumble through my response.

“You and Krampus had a nice time together the past couple of days? Rekindled your old friendship? Kindled anything else?”

“It’s none of your business.” I say. When I look back at Krampus he is staring sheepishly at the ground. “Did you say anything to him?” I ask.

“Me? Hells bells, of course I didn’t.” Krampus shakes his head emphatically.

“Krampus sees bad emotions and I see all the good ones. Love, joy, respect. All that good stuff. All the things that you felt whenever I mentioned you to each other.”

I press my lips together, there’s no way to fight that statement.

Santa grins triumphantly.

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